With news just out about Edward Kennedy's death, a number of books about the longtime Massachusetts senator are already starting to climb the charts on Amazon. The current top Kennedy book, Peter S. Canelios's Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy, is at #493. The numbers, though, are fluctuating rapidly--Canelios's book, which Simon & Schuster published in February, was over 1,100 as of 9:30 a.m.
Edward Klein's May-published Ted Kennedy: The Dream That Never Died (Crown) is also climbing on Amazon, and a spokesperson from Random House said that press requests for Klein are pouring in. He also confirmed that the house is going back to press on the title, taking reorders now from accounts.
Clearly, though, the publisher poised to see the biggest boost from a renewed interest in Kennedy is Hachette; the company's Twelve imprint is releasing Kennedy's memoir, True Compass, next month. Last week Twelve announced it was pushing the book from October to September--the title is now bowing on September 14--and a representative from the house confirmed that this plan still stands.
Twelve is doing a first announced printing of 1.5 million and this morning released a statement saying, among other things, that Kennedy "worked valiantly to finish the book and make it the best it could be." The imprint has also touted, but not disclosed sales details on, the special edition $1,000 leather-bound copies of the book, which are currently available for pre-sale.
